Friday, May 03, 2013
12:45:55 PM EDT

SPX Weekly Iron Butterfly

by
Dot Hazlin

The monthly Non Farms Payroll report sent markets surging to record highs this morning; outside the entry guidelines for the SPX weekly Iron Butterfly.

SPX soared past the 1600 milestone level at the open this morning; and as of this writing the intra-day high of 1618.46 is yet another all-time high. The move so far today represents almost a 2 standard deviation move, outside the guidelines for entry into a new position. This rally is so strong today, that even if SPX retreats to within a one standard deviation move, I do not recommend a live trade entry this cycle.

The SPX chart below was captured at mid-day Friday, and illustrates the strength of the move thus far today.

SPX Intra Day chart

Once again, for this week, we accept that cash is a position, and prefer to preserve our cash rather than taking the risk in this unpredictable environment. "Live to trade another day." As I've said before, the weekly trades give 52 opportunities to enter and exit at our target gain during the year; and it's best to sit on the sidelines when conditions like today are present.

I am continuing my back testing on the weekly SPX Iron Condor and will share those results with you early next week.